Sid's Sunday jottings

• It isn’t surprising that Pro Football Focus ranked Kyle Rudolph as the fourth-best red zone tight end this week, but what was surprising was seeing his Vikings teammate David Morgan ranked second. The publication noted that Morgan was the NFL’s second-best run blocker inside the 20-yard line.

• Vikings coach Mike Zimmer on how he views Marcus Sherels, who is in his eighth NFL season: “Marcus doesn’t say much, he’s just a kid that goes out there and works real hard every day and plays with really good technique most of the time. You can rely on him.”

• Vikings Executive Vice President Lester Bagley said the team still believes it has a great shot at playing host to the 2021 NFL draft at its Eagan headquarters.

• Former Twins and current Tigers manager Ron Gardenhire said he understands why the Twins front office of Derek Falvey and Thad Levine made some of their deadline deals: “There’s a group there running that ballclub that is trying to do all the right things and get all the right people in there. They’re loading up the farm system — again, you have a lot of young talent and they’re trying to get it right.”

• Baseball America listed the Twins’ minor league system as the seventh best in baseball, behind the Padres, Rays, Blue Jays, White Sox, Braves and Reds. The publication wrote: “Deadline deals added a smattering of high-upside talent, but the biggest reason the Twins are a top-10 system is because they have hit on their recent high draft picks. [Royce] Lewis, [Alex] Kirilloff and [Brent] Rooker all have reached or exceeded expectations.”

• Former Gophers basketball standout Andre Hollins recently wrapped up his season with Kormend in Hungary and averaged 10.8 points, 3.1 assists and 2.4 rebounds per game. His former U teammate Austin Hollins has signed with Rasta Vechta in Germany for 2018-19.

Sid Hartman is a sports columnist. He also can be heard weekdays on WCCO AM-830 at 6:40, 7:40 and 8:40 a.m.

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